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Bledisloe Cup

Tommy Smith

Tommy Smith

Referee
Messages
21,344
Yawn the Wallabies got smashed again?

Yep, nobody cares.

Union in Australia has nose dived in popularity spectacularly over the last 10 or so years.
 
ZEROMISSTACKLES

ZEROMISSTACKLES

First Grade
Messages
8,700
RoosTah said:
A predictable result unfortunately... the game just doesn't have the organisation, the numbers or the players that it does in NZ.
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This is true as union is our national sport. In regards to playing numbers - I think theres more males playing soccer in NZ than rugby though.

However you cant put it down just to us having more numbers. We do well in league too (I think were ranked no.1 in the world) and we got stuff all numbers playing league. We got one team in the NRL. England and you guys have fantastic COMPETITIONS with the NRL the best competition for both codes IMO. For a small population, we do outstandingly well in many sports despite our massive disadvantage.

The All Blacks are probably one of the best sporting teams ever, probably THE best of all sports!
 
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RoosTah

RoosTah

Juniors
Messages
2,257
ZEROMISSTACKLES said:
This is true as union is our national sport. In regards to playing numbers - I think theres more males playing soccer in NZ than rugby though.

However you cant put it down just to us having more numbers. We do well in league too (I think were ranked no.1) and we got stuff all numbers. For the small population, we do outstandingly well in many sports despite our massive disadvantage.
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It's more than just numbers, it's about first choice athletes too and the number playing at a highly competitive level too.

I was in Japan when the Waratahs played the Sunwolves and I was talking to an Aussie guy heavily involved in Sydney rugby and he was telling me that in Auckland alone there are two separate competitions BIGGER than the Shute Shield - which is the largest Union club comp we have on a city level).

Ultimately, athletes in NZ play Union if they have any talent and the stocks come from everywhere, whilst in Australia there are too reliant on the pampered private schools.

NZ does do well in League too of course, but their success in league has coincided with the increase in kiwis being represented in the NRL - there are now more kiwis playing in NRL teams than there are Qlders. Perhaps if we had half our Aussie players plying their trade in NZ we'd be more competitive?

I don't know, but ultimately Union has declined to a depressing degree in Australia - news of a potential breakaway competition that will go to war with the NRC confirms the code's status as the sick man of Australian rugby and frankly I suspect we will only become LESS competitive as the money runs out and the ARU unravels.
 
ZEROMISSTACKLES

ZEROMISSTACKLES

First Grade
Messages
8,700
RoosTah said:
It's more than just numbers, it's about first choice athletes too and the number playing at a highly competitive level too.

I was in Japan when the Waratahs played the Sunwolves and I was talking to an Aussie guy heavily involved in Sydney rugby and he was telling me that in Auckland alone there are two separate competitions BIGGER than the Shute Shield - which is the largest Union club comp we have on a city level).

Ultimately, athletes in NZ play Union if they have any talent and the stocks come from everywhere, whilst in Australia there are too reliant on the pampered private schools.

NZ does do well in League too of course, but their success in league has coincided with the increase in kiwis being represented in the NRL - there are now more kiwis playing in NRL teams than there are Qlders.
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The NRL has been huge for developing kiwi players since the Winfield Cup but like you said, theres more now. These days aussie clubs dont care where your from, they just want you for your footy ability. Hell theyd probably recruit Charles Manson if he could play league.

Tonights Bledisloe showed a glimpse that the Wallabies are on the way back. It was clear in the first half that for awhile both teams were level. Its just the last 20 mins where the ABs seem to close out so well. Savea had an ankle taps chance on Speight but I think Speight still scores or trips up and give to his support winger. It was the support wingers dumb action that cost yous. That was crucial IMO.
 
RoosTah

RoosTah

Juniors
Messages
2,257
ZEROMISSTACKLES said:
The NRL has been huge for developing kiwi players since the Winfield Cup but like you said, theres more now. These days aussie clubs dont care where your from, they just want you for your footy ability. Hell theyd probably recruit Charles Manson if he could play league.

Tonights Bledisloe showed a glimpse that the Wallabies are on the way back. It was clear in the first half that for awhile both teams were level. Its just the last 20 mins where the ABs seem to close out so well. Savea had an ankle taps chance on Speight but I think Speight still scores or trips up and give to his support winger. It was the support wingers dumb action that cost yous. That was crucial IMO.
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Mate, there were flashes of fluidity and improvement in patches, but there just isn't the intuition and dexterity that you see in the All Blacks or Kangaroos in League - watching last week's league test, when inglis scored the that try in the first half off that kick Holmes kicked into the back of the kiwi player where he caught it and went into the corner I immediately thought "that's a try you'd never see the wallabies score" - they just don't have the skill for that sort of thing - let alone the sort of harlem globe trotter shit the Kangaroos put on in the 2013 RLWC Final or the All Blacks put on regularly now.

Ultimately I just don't see the Wallabies getting back to a place where they're consistently competitive - the game is too poorly organised in Australia and is in fact seemingly in terminal decline - as I just wrote, it's such a mess we're on the verge of a weird sort of reverse repeat of the League Super League war (reverse in the sense this will be driven by the grass roots rather than big money), so the sport is literally tearing itself apart...

I used to follow both codes equally myself, but I've more and more been getting irritated with both how the game is run in Australia and how it is officiated internationally.
 
W

Wizardman

First Grade
Messages
9,341
Union is in a pretty bad spot in Australia. While the international game will always have its fair share of viewers, the lower tiers of rugby are absolute crap. Our Super 14 teams are not very competitive while the NRC is complete horseshit. The NBL, A-League and Big Bash are far better products in terms of quality and entertainment value.
 
Twizzle

Twizzle

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
153,478
Its amazing just how superior the kiwis are and how they have dominated world Rugby for so long. For such a small country to dominate a sport on an international stage for so long is just incredible.
 
RoosTah

RoosTah

Juniors
Messages
2,257
Twizzle said:
Its amazing just how superior the kiwis are and how they have dominated world Rugby for so long. For such a small country to dominate a sport on an international stage for so long is just incredible.
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Yeah, the systems they've implemented are very similar to how Australia really dominated cricket for around 20 years from the late 80s to the early 00s - like Aussie cricket, the entire country's rugby infrastructure cohesively feeds into the All Blacks machine, with style of play, coaching methods and all other areas of organisation openly discussed and colluded on.
 
King hit

King hit

Coach
Messages
14,092
Generalzod said:
What had happened to the Wallabies their atrocious
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I personally think that there is no support of the game at grassroots level, poor decisions at the top, terrible team selections and a generally poor attitude. Michael Hooper (Wallaby captain) last night said "We showed the good fighting spirit and I'm proud'. Dude you were 50 points behind at one point that isn't anything to be proud of.

As I said in another thread, I remember when the Bledisloe Cup was one of the biggest events in the Australian Rugby calendar, it always produced some outstanding contests and thrilling finishes. But now it's really just a cakewalk for NZ as they don't even need to play well to win it. I even wonder if they even get excited at winning it these days.
 
Generalzod

Generalzod

Immortal
Messages
33,946
King hit said:
I personally think that there is no support of the game at grassroots level, poor decisions at the top, terrible team selections and a generally poor attitude. Michael Hooper (Wallaby captain) last night said "We showed the good fighting spirit and I'm proud'. Dude you were 50 points behind at one point that isn't anything to be proud of.

As I said in another thread, I remember when the Bledisloe Cup was one of the biggest events in the Australian Rugby calendar, it always produced some outstanding contests and thrilling finishes. But now it's really just a cakewalk for NZ as they don't even need to play well to win it. I even wonder if they even get excited at winning it these days.
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Another point king there is to much emphasis in recruiting from private school system the likes of kings, Scots college, the game is perceived as a North Shore sport..
 
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